Sheila talks about her closeness with Dylan
Sheila Harper Watkins explains about her close bond with her cousin, Dylan Harper. Everyone always says that somewhere in the world, there is a possibility that someone could be your twin. I have always discounted that as silly. Because what would the chances being of someone finding your other side of yourself? However, I never realized that it could be possible. It wasn't for me, but someone in my family is close enough to me to perhaps BE a twin, although we're not. That someone is my cousin, Dylan. Dylan and I are close to the same age and we've always been close from the day we were born. I later found out that Dylan and I were born on the same day, so that way, in a sense, we were connected from the very start. Since my mother, Michelle, and his dad, Michael were fraternal twins themselves and had always been very close growing up, that same bond and traits were passed on to Dylan and me. When we were children, Dylan had been living full time at the Harper mansion. His dad and mom had been having some strife, and for a while, he lived with Grandma and Grandpa Harper. At that time, Mom and my father were living on the grounds too. Dylan and I would always play together. We had the same kind of rattles and toys, and when we napped when we were infants, Mom and Aunt Shelby would always make sure we were napping in the same room. I think it made Dylan realize that he was safe. I think Dylan was a lot closer to me than he was to his own sister. Don't get me wrong, he adores his sister, Rosemary, and he adored his half-sister, Aileen too, and then Hannah, when she was adopted, but I think the one he had the biggest bond with, was me. My dad did not approve of that. He resented Mom's closeness with Uncle Michael, and he resented Dylan's closeness with me. But then again, what did my dad know. Especially after he cheated on Mom and then later ended his marriage to her, and after a brief fling with another woman, he married my arch-enemy, Molly Hendrix. So nothing he said meant anything to me. Molly did Dylan so much dirt over the course of her reign of terror. She even had one of her flunkies rape him! The first time, a goon named Chris Helgerson (later Chris Kalters, and he had turned very nice) raped him and left him in an abandoned pottery store. Then Ralph Jones, the flunkie of Molly, had him raped even more savagely than Chris had. Both times, I want to see both of 'em killed! Ralph left town and never came back, because Molly threw him over once his usefulness was at an end. Chris moved out of town himself, but he still talks with Dylan. Dylan forgave him, although it took a while. I didn't blame him. Ralph turned state's evidence and blew the evil Molly's scheme out of the water. Thank GOD that evil woman is dead! I think, aside from my mom and everyone else, Dylan was perhaps the most thrilled with me marrying my husband, Allen. Dylan saw Allen as the brother he had never had. Allen took to him as well, and even after we were married, Allen was so sweet and included him on anything we did. He still does, and now that includes his family. It amazes me how the same traits that were passed on to us from our mom and dad, are passed on to the next generation as well. When I gave birth to Catherine, I didn't think that a bond she would have with Dylan's adopted son, Derek, would be born from it. But, as luck would have it, that was exactly what happened. Catherine and Derek bonded and are as close as Dylan and I are; and as our parents are. Who would have thought it? It's a family in-joke that people think that Dyl and I are twins since our parents are twins, but we're not. Dylan and I are extremely close; our parents are close, and our children are close. Somehow or other, that works out well for everyone involved. I find it funny, because at times, even I think Dylan is my twin. When we were born, we had a bond that is akin to twins; and that bond passed on to our children. What a legacy, right? Category:Episodes Category:Episodes from a character's view